Think the Fremont parade is weird? Check out these odd events around the world

By SFGATE

Published 7:00 am, Wednesday, March 12, 2014

From March 13th to the 19th, Valencia celebrates one of Spain’s best known festivals: Las Fallas. The Fallas are massive models made out of paper mache, wood and wax, often as caricatures meant to parody the political and social affairs of the country.

The Fallas are divided into seven stages, beginning with decorating the entire city.

Photo: Keith Elwood, Flickr

Las Fallas

The Fallas are divided into seven stages, beginning with...

Las Fallas

Several ceremonies take place during the Fallas festival but it’s the night of the 19th when the fun really begins, with a festival of fire, fireworks and overall mayhem. The Fallas models are lit and burned, with hundreds of fires are burnt throughout the city.

It’s no surprise that a Mexican town considered the center of Mexico’s witchcraft industry would host an annual witchcraft convention. That’s exactly what happens in Catemaco, located on the shore of Laguna Catemaco, every first Friday in March. The festival dates back to the 1970s when a local brujo (otherwise known as a shaman) had the idea to begin a witchcraft convention. Today, hundreds of shamans, witches and healers perform a mass cleansing ceremony to rid them of negative energies from the previous year. There are also song and dance performances, tarot readings and even a black magic ceremony.

Fans of the well-known children’s series, will appreciate the World Pooh Sticks Championship held in mid-March in Oxfordshire, England. The rules are simple: find a stick, drop it in the river, watch as it floats downstream and see how long it takes for it to emerge from under the bridge. The owner of the first stick to float by is the winner.

Imagine the ultimate water fight with an entire country participating in the festivities. That’s exactly what the Songkran Water Festival is: a six-day all out water fight. The festival is actually a New Years celebration for Thailand, but tourists have come to enjoy the festivities just as much as the locals (with the most famous celebrations taking place in Chiang Mai and Bangkok.) Participants are ready to soak anyone in their vicinity and also smear talc on the faces and bodies of passerby’s as a blessing for the New Year.

Thai fire fighters soak the crowd with their fire hoses during a community water fight on Silom Road as part of the Songkran Water Festival on April 14, 2013 in Bangkok, Thailand. Though it’s definitely a time for fun, Songkran is also traditionally a time to visit and pay respect to elders and pray at the Buddhist monastery.

The folks in Beaver, Oklahoma began this unique tradition in 1970, in remembrance of the early day pioneers. In the 1800s, bitter winters left the settlers in desperate need of fuel. They found that burned cow chips, which emitted no odor and burned with intense heat could be used as fuel to cook food and heat homes.

The name of this event is exactly what it implies, people race down a steep hill while following a large block of round cheese rolling down. Sound like fun? The first person to cross the finish line wins a Double Gloucester cheese.

Dating back hundreds of years, this festival is thought to have been an ancient fertility rite or a way of guaranteeing the rights of the villagers to graze their livestock on the land. Today, it’s just a fun way to be entertained, for both cheese lovers and non alike.

The Man vs. Horse Marathon (not pictured) began like many other things: with a bet. Gordon Green overheard two men discussing the merits of men and horses running over mountainous terrain and he challenged the men to put it to the test. And so it began. The race covers 22 miles and runners compete against riders on horseback. It took 25 years, but a man finally beat a horse in 2005, with another repeating that feat three years later. However, the horse has remained unbeaten ever since. The runner who beats the first horse and rider gets to take home a cash prize. The pot starts at 500 pounds and will increase by 500 pounds each year until it’s won. (The previous winner got 25,000 pounds, that’s more than $40,000!)

This festival is called El Colacho to locals but internationally it’s referred to as “the baby jumping festival.” Yes you read that right. During this festival, men dressed as the devil in red and yellow jumpsuits jump over a row of up to 10 babies. (Photo: Fest300 )

Babies await their turn during El Colacho, otherwise known as the baby jumping festival. Dating back hundreds of years, this ritual was thought to bless newborn children and remove original sin. (Photo: Fest300 )
Photo: Chip Conley, Fest300

El Colacho

Babies await their turn during El Colacho, otherwise...

El Colacho

Despite hundreds of years of baby jumping, remarkably, there have been no serious injuries reported. (Photo: Fest300 )
Photo: Nick Gammon, Fest300

Imagine human pyramids but on steroids. Castellers are people who form giant human towers at festivals all around Catalonia, Spain. The tradition began more than 200 years ago and today there more than 7,000 castellers in clubs around the country keeping this tradition alive.This definitely isn’t for the timid though but would make a great vacation photo! (Photo: Fest300 )

Have you ever heard of the World Toe Wrestling Championship? Similar to arm wrestling, contestants compete by locking toes and attempting to pin the opponent’s feet. The competition lasts for three rounds and the best out of three wins. These toe wrestlers aren’t messing around; the three-time champion calls himself the “Toeminator.” Want to check out the action? Just Google it to see the kind of toe action that takes place.

The human body takes center stage during this colorful festival. Begun in 1998, the festival brings together bodypainting artists and models from more than 40 different countries. Each year, the festival has a theme to help with the judging process.

La Tomatina is the food fight to end all food fights. Thousands of people flock to this small town near Valencia to participate in this traditional event that’s been around since the 1940s. The premise is pretty simple: throw tomatoes anywhere and everywhere for one hour. At around 11 am water cannons signal the start of the fight and participants can go crazy throwing tomatoes to their heart’s delight. They must be overripe (to avoid hurting people) and after one hour water cannons are fired once again and the city begins to clean up the red mess.

The premise is pretty simple: throw tomatoes anywhere and everywhere for one hour. More than one hundred metric tons of overripe tomatoes are thrown during the massive food fight. Due to overwhelming demand in recent years, participants must now get a ticket to take part of the festivities.

You know Carnaval and Burning Man, but there are many more unique events that take place all over the world. These affairs vary greatly from the wacky to the wild and are certain to be one-of-a-kind experiences.

Does cheese rolling sound appealing? How about toe wrestling? Here's a guide to some quirky adventures from around the globe in the spring and summer months.